Sunny and seasonable weather in Philadelphia with highs in the 40s Sunday, warming up more this week
Sometimes it's good to be average and today that is what we will be. Temperatures will be average for today's date in the upper 40s with sun to start and clouds late today. Layers will mainly be needed in the morning with hoodies, sweatshirts or sweater enough later today.
From here it's onward and upward for the week ahead with highs in the 50s and even a few temps in the 60s. Winter gear and snow shovels won't be needed but an umbrella will come in handy on Thursday as a front sweeps past with rain showers through the day.
February ends on Friday with a quiet and mild day. March may come in more like a lamb than a lion on Saturday with highs near 50. It's Sunday, the second day of meteorological spring, that may be more lion-like with highs dropping to the upper 30s and a rain or snow shower early in the day.
Like it or not, rain and snow are in short supply for Philadelphia this season and we need both. Since the start of winter on December 1 we have had 6.41" of rain, which is 2.82" below average as of today. Our snow deficit is even worse with a paltry 8.1" of snow, which is 9.5" below average. That deficit is more than half the 17.6" we should have as of today.
The spring seasonal outlook from the Climate Prediction Center is for a warmer than average three month stretch between March 1 and May 31. That does not mean we will be warm the entire time because the outlook is based on the trend and is an average of the three months so plan on plenty of ups and downs over the next three months.
One nice benefit of the spring months is the increase in hours of daylight each day.
Our sunrise today was a 6:42 a.m. and sunset will be at 5:47 p.m. In two weeks on March 9, Daylight Saving Time begins, and although we face the dreaded loss of one hour of sleep from flipping the clock ahead one hour, we will see a later sunset at 7:02 p.m. Kind of nice to enjoy that extra daylight after work and school. Finally, astronomical spring, AKA the vernal equinox, takes place in one month on March 20. That day our sunset will be at 7:14 p.m.
Here's the 7-day forecast:
Sunday: Mostly sunny. High 47.
Monday: Mostly sunny. High 53, low 32.
Tuesday: Cloudy and mild. High 60, low 36.
Wednesday: Partly sunny. High 58, low 38.
Thursday: Rain showers. High 57, low 40.
Friday: Mostly sunny. High 49, low 39.
Saturday: Partly sunny. High 51, low 36.
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